<ul>
<li>The Date API now uses PHP 5.2 date functions for better date and timezone handling (and has PHP 4 emulations for those functions so the module will work in PHP4). Although the code will work with PHP 4, it is <strong>significantly</strong> faster and more efficient under PHP 5.2 or higher, so PHP 5.2 is highly recommended.</li>
<li>The database query handling has been completely re-worked to take advantage of database timezone handling when available, with a fallback to the older and less reliable method of using offsets to do timezone adjustments.</li>
<li>No more need for the adodb date library, historical dates earlier than 1970 and later than 2038 are handled without any external code.</li>
<li> iCal integration is greatly improved, an iCal parser can parse events, alarms, most types of dates and timezones, duration, repeat rules, and more.</lI>
<li>The Date API creates date elements that can be used by any module, including 'date_select', 'date_textfield', and 'date_timezone'.</li>
<li> A new Date Timezone module overrides the site and user timezone selectors to allow you to select a timezone name instead of a timezone offset, and that stored name is used to properly adjust date values. It also detects the user's timezone name automatically and updates the user record with that name.</li>
<li>A new Date Popup module creates a jQuery popup calendar date picker and time picker, and the element is available to other modules as a form type of 'date_popup'. </li>
<li>The Date module now has lots of new ways to define default values -- you can set a the default to 'blank', 'now', or 'relative', where relative is something like '+90 days'. The To date has a separate default value, which can be the same as the From date or do something different.</li>
<li>A Date Repeat API module has been added which can be used by any other module. The CCK Date module uses it to allow you to select 'repeating' as a type of multiple date, present the user with a form to select the repeat rules for their date, and then create all the multiple values that match those rules.</li>
</ul>